


Time

by msmarycrawley



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Desire, Dreams, F/M, Falling In Love, Ficlet, Grief/Mourning, Internal Conflict, Internal Monologue, Plans For The Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 15:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msmarycrawley/pseuds/msmarycrawley
Summary: Jim Hopper has nothing but the future on his mind.





	Time

**Author's Note:**

> _"It is important to me that you feel safe. I want you to feel like this can still be your home."_
> 
> Inspiration can come unexpectedly. I was scrolling through Pinterest and found some gorgeous Jopper fan art and edits and realized how much I suddenly wanted to write about them in that minute. They love each other so much, these two...I have always wanted to write for Jim and Joyce, and now I'm finally doing it before they (hopefully) become canon. Yay! I cannot wait until season 3.

How many days?

What was the acceptable amount of "time"? Jim hated himself for even thinking about it. He knew she had JUST lost someone she loved, and for Christ's sake, he was _there_. He knew how she felt, and he still wanted her. He hated himself for thinking about it, but he hated that he couldn't have her more.

How long should he wait to tell the woman that has haunted his dreams ever since all of this started, the woman whose unchanged, beautiful face brought back memories of the only fun he ever had in high school, the woman he would bend time and space for, how long should he wait to tell her he loved her?

How long until he just couldn't fucking stand it, until he blurted it out like the moron that he was, until she looked at him with pity in her eyes and rejected him? 

He knew that he had to eventually, or else he couldn't be around her anymore without her knowing something was wrong. He just didn't know when. 

Grieving was a long process and he hoped she knew that he would be there for her every single step of the way, like always. Bob was such a nice guy, if anyone deserved her...but Jim needed Joyce so badly he couldn't sleep.

It wasn't even about sex-although that was a part of it-it was the closeness, the warmth she gave whenever she was near. They understood each other. They _got_ each other, and they both knew it. They were cut from the same cloth. For every insane thing that has happened in this godforsaken town within the past few months, he knew that there was something between them. He had to believe that.

Because Joyce Byers liked the tired broken man that he was, and she accepted him. It was him she came to for advice, protection, and authority. This was so much more than a fucking job now, it was his lifeline. He could make her smile, if only for a little while. He could even make her laugh. He would gladly do it for as long as she allowed him to because he was a selfish man, and because it made him happy to see her even a fraction less stressed out than she always was. Any good news he could bring to Joyce Byers made him feel like a better man.

Maybe one day she would need him in a different way, and want the way he wanted. If she loved him, she was good at hiding it, but so was he. 

Maybe one day he would feel her little body pressed up against his, smooth back that shiny hair, kiss her forehead, make his way down to her nose, her cheeks, her mouth, her throat...and she would like it. She would ask for it, she would curl up beside him and they would go to bed together every night and have coffee together every morning and never be miserable without each other again.

Or maybe she would never want it, maybe she would find another Bob and Jim would have to deal with that. But Christ, he loved her so much, he didn't even care. Her happiness was his own at this point. As long as he could keep her safe, that was all that really mattered.

Of course, there was Jane to think of now, and her Will, and everything else.

As he lay alone at night, he wondered if they would ever have time.


End file.
